


Vows

by ddagent



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Episode Tag, F/M, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-10
Updated: 2012-10-10
Packaged: 2017-11-16 01:11:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/533841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ddagent/pseuds/ddagent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He can't do it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Vows

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Once Upon a Time or any of its characters, or its settings - all belongs to the lovely folks at ABC.
> 
> This is an episode tag for my original interpretation of the last Gold scene in 'We are Both'. Please note there are spoilers for season two in this fic. Other than that - enjoy!

Rumpelstiltskin stood at the town boundary, his car running behind him. He kept staring at that orange line, willing it to move, willing it to disappear. It seemed odd that despite all the power he possessed, a single line of orange spray paint was keeping him from the one thing he wanted most in the world.

 

He took a step forward, lining up his right foot with the orange paint.

 

Everything was prepared for. He had notes in his briefcase, a sketch of Bae as he knew him...everything that Andrew Gold - his Storybrooke alter ego - would need to bring his son home. There were no notes for Belle, no possessions of hers in the car. His memories as Rumpelstiltskin were disposable. Condemning Belle to a life of nothingness, to a sacrificial blank slate was something he could not do.

 

He took another step forward, lining up his left foot with the orange paint.

 

She would be alright without him. She deserved better than a monster like him anyway, so much better. Although she tried to deny it, he knew that there was someone younger and braver and more handsome that she could be happy with. He couldn't ask her to go back to the shadow she had been during the curse when she could be happier in Storybrooke as the incredible woman she was. This choice was for him alone.

 

His cane pressed right against the orange paint.

 

But despite all his assurances about Belle he still had not crossed over that line. If he crossed over he could find Bae but he would lose the woman he loved, the woman he wanted to create a life with. He would lose his true self too, relegated to a dark fragment that not even Bae could love. If he stayed he wouldn't be able to find his son, but he would get to be with Belle. Yet if he remained it could be years before he could hold his boy in his arms.  

 

As cruel as it was, he almost wished Belle had never found him. He would be able to cross over that line with no reservations, no dreams of happy ever afters. He would always love Belle, but she would be relegated to his list of people he had lost rather than be tucked up in bed after they had talked till the early hours of the morning. His thoughts from the previous night, his dream of having a proper family taunted him now. He could have it, if he just waited a _little_ longer. And after three hundred years, what were a few more months?

 

"I'm sorry Bae."

 

His right foot stepped back from the line and his entire body twisted to return to the car. It wasn't even late afternoon yet - if he hurried he could get back before Belle awoke. They could spend the evening together, have dinner on the veranda. A perfect evening. Then _tomorrow_ he could begin his work once more. He hadn't designed the curse to stick around when it was broken - someone had been _fiddling._ He would have to figure out what had happened to his curse and fix it sooner rather than later

 

He raced through the town, grateful that the Sheriff was too busy in another world to arrest him for speeding. He made it into his drive as quietly as he could, hoping not to disturb Belle's slumber. Hopefully he would be there in time to distract her from noticing that his clothes were missing, and for her to see the single rose he had left on her pillow as a romantic gesture rather than one of goodbye.

 

As he stuck his key in the lock, he knew he had made the right choice. Once the barrier was gone he and Belle could search for Bae together and they could be a family. Maybe even have children together _._ Grinning over his own fantasies, Rumpelstiltskin placed one foot on the stairs, ready to be by Belle's side when she stirred. A floorboard creaked under his foot and then a voice echoed from down the hall.

 

"Forget something?"

 

Rumpelstiltskin removed his foot from the stairs and turned to the hall. He walked down to the sitting room at the back of his home where the chipped cup had languished for twenty eight years. Now its owner sat there, waiting for him to return.

 

"I did, as a matter of fact," his hand gripped his cane as he looked over his love. Her soft curls almost hid her face from view. The collar of his shirt was slipping a little over her shoulder. Her eyes were red with shed tears. "Belle..."

 

"Don't." She looked up at him, her arms wrapped tight around her. Her tongue traced her lips before she continued. "The rose was a nice touch. I remember when you gave me one before, how happy I was. It made me realise how much I loved you." She bowed her head, turning her eyes away from him. "If you don't love me, then _say._ Don't leave me in your bed with a rose beside me."

 

"Belle..." he couldn't move, he was stuck in the mud of his own failure. He should have come home quicker, should have driven faster. She would have woken from her overdue rest in his arms than alone and abandoned. He needed to fix this. He couldn't lose her and Bae in the same day. So he lied. "I love you, Belle, I love you very much. I just had to go run an errand."

 

"With all your clothes," Belle swallowed. "And your maps." She stood up from the armchair and pulled the edges of his shirt over her skin. He dug his cane harder into his hand, unwilling to look at her closer. There was so much of her on display and he was the only one who could touch her. It was _killing_ him. "Please explain it, Rumpelstiltskin. _Please."_

"Just an errand, Belle. I had to take some clothes to get dry cleaned." The lies came off his tongue so readily. "I would never leave you, Belle. Ever."

 

 He walked over to try to hold her, but without warning she threw something at his head. It smashed against the wall next to him. He looked down and saw it was their cup. Their chipped cup, broken beyond repair. He turned to Belle, and she crossed her arms over her chest, protecting herself from him. "I found your _three_ attempts at writing me a note in the rubbish. If you don't want me then _say._ Don't _lie_ and then _leave_ when I'm not looking."

 

Belle turned away and looked out the window overlooking his garden. Rumpelstiltskin stepped over the porcelain and went to her side. She was shaking and he wrapped his arms around her, trying to comfort her. She didn't push him away, which he took as a good sign.  "Why did you leave?" she asked, her hands covering his across her stomach.

 

He nuzzled her curls out the way so he could press a shaky kiss to her neck. "Do you remember just before I gave you that rose, you asked about my son?" She nodded. "And before we kissed for the first time, I told you that I'd lost him." Belle turned a little in his embrace, looking at him most curiously. "I'm trying to find him, Belle."

 

"Oh," Belle whispered, licking her lips. "Is he in Storybrooke, or...outside?"

 

"He's outside the town limits; the Fates only know where he is." Rumpelstiltskin unwound himself from Belle and stood in front of her, taking both her hands in his. "I've been trying to find him for longer than you've been alive, Belle. Curse included. But my curse is not broken - you can't leave the town without losing all your memories of our world. Up until Prince _Charming_ told me about this little quirk, I was planning on taking you with me. Now...I'd give up my memories in a heartbeat. But I can't give up yours, and I can't give up you."

 

Belle exhaled, taking on all the information. He watched her bite her lip as she worked through it all. There was something in her eyes...something that made him believe it would all be okay. "You have a son who's...alive. You have a son."

 

"I have a son. Baelfire. That's his name." He grinned like the proud father he was. "My Bae.

 

She squeezed his hands tight within her own. "We could be..."

 

"...a family. I know." He was grinning at her, holding her hands just as tight. "Oh I know, Belle."

 

She broke their hands to rest them against his chest, stroking the lapels of his jacket. "Then you should find him. I'll wait; I'll wait for you both to come back to me. Don't lose him again."

 

The gesture was wonderful and he couldn't help but kiss her in that moment. He cupped her cheek, stroking her skin as her mouth opened for him. His lips caressed her top one, sucking it before pressing feather light kisses to her mouth. His hand moved forward on her face, the pads of his fingers stroking behind her ear. Belle shivered before opening her eyes, resting her forehead against his. "I love you."

 

"I love you too." He brushed a curl away from her face, watching her smile at him. "I love you so very much. We'll go together once I've fixed the curse, you and me. See the world, find Bae. I'll have to wait, and Bae will have to wait. But it'll be worth it in the end. We'll be a family and that will be worth everything."

 

They kissed again, slowly and timidly as if afraid of breaking the moment. Belle eventually buried her head in Rumpelstiltskin's neck, sighing softly as he stroked her hair. "I broke our cup," she said as they both turned to the broken porcelain.  

 

Rumpelstiltskin smiled as he thought about the day she chipped it and how he had cherished both the cup and the girl ever since. "It's just a cup, sweetheart. What matters more is the woman who chipped it."

 

He held her close, his arms tight around her. He had made a promise to Bae to give up his magic and he would. He made a promise to Belle, however silently as he held her in his arms, that he would not leave her. He made a vow to himself then and there that he would do _anything_ in his power to finally have _his_ happy ever after.

 

It was a little overdue. 


End file.
